What is the highest paying college major?

[sandmoth12]

I think I have whittled it down to engineering majors VS med school majors (doctors surgeons and such). But I don't really know who makes more?

[Deadvolcanoes]

If I had to guess, I would say that 9 times of out 10 a specialized surgeon makes more than an engineer of any kind.

[Catta]

Well i imagine that doctors have the highest average salary but that you could potentially get a higher salary as an engineer. Like if you invent stuff n patent it n shit...

[Deleted]

I can't really say about other countries but over here (Sweden) the last prognose I saw said that IT/Civil engineers are going to have the highest demand/highest entrance salary within the next 10 years.

[ovm33]

Might consider paper science & engineering if going after $$$.

Go to a halfway decent school and walk out with a 100k a year job lined up cause the headhunters came looking for you.

(And no washing you hands 50x times a day. That has to be hard on your skin.)

[This name sucks]

Depending on what kind of engineer obviously. Like architect? Electrical engineer? Chemical synthesis?

But unless you make it big and invent the new Kevlar you will probably make more as some kind of rare medical specialist.

[Flustered]

There is no question here - doctors (at least in the US) will start at no less than 150k. Often it's more than that - ranging up to 300 or so for certain fields. This information is readily available. The downside here is that you're going to spend an extra 6 years in school and probably have no less than 200k in debt coming out of it - often more.

Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering (at least the VLSI side of it) are going to net you a starting salary of around 80-100k. You're going to spend 5 years in school instead of 10 and consequently have half as much debt. You're also going to get tons of job offers before you even graduate if you have a gpa over 3.4. If you get anything near a 4.0 you can pick any job you want and are guaranteed over 100k. Petroleum Engineering is even better - probably going to start at around 140k. Not very many schools offer this though, and the two I know have to travel out to oil rigs pretty frequently.

[Deleted]

Out of these two those are definitely doctors. Especially if you go by the average, as in how much would you make as an average enginner and average doctor.

In my country those would be lawyers for example. Well as far as jobs in the major city go anyway, no idea what it's like elsewhere.

[Prokne]

If I had to guess, I would say that 9 times of out 10 a specialized surgeon makes more than an engineer of any kind.

If youre looking at jobs you can get with only a bachelors degree I believe Aerospace Engineering is usually at the top of the list.

If youre looking at potential after graduate education doctors will probably make more but doctors also have more schooling and have to complete low paid residencies before they can start making a lot of money.

---------- Post added 2012-12-15 at 06:32 PM ----------

Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering (at least the VLSI side of it) are going to net you a starting salary of around 80-100k. You're going to spend 5 years in school instead of 10 and consequently have half as much debt. You're also going to get tons of job offers before you even graduate if you have a gpa over 3.4. If you get anything near a 4.0 you can pick any job you want and are guaranteed over 100k. Petroleum Engineering is even better - probably going to start at around 140k. Not very many schools offer this though, and the two I know have to travel out to oil rigs pretty frequently.

Starting salaries for EE, CE, and CS jobs are not where near 80K more like 50K. You wont get up to 80-100k until you have at least 5 years experience or a masters degree and probably need both. Petroleum engineers make more just because the industry is insanely profitable from price gouging and speculation.

[someotherguy]

Well i imagine that doctors have the highest average salary but that you could potentially get a higher salary as an engineer. Like if you invent stuff n patent it n shit...

Lets not forget that biologists or chemists can also patent things for medical needs, which too can have huge payouts. Not sure how common this is though.

Also lets not forget lawyers, who also make good wage.

I think doctors make the most, but you need about 12? years of studying. You got bachelors of 4 years, than about 4? years specialty than few years of residency? am I getting it wrong? I think it's about 12.
In comparison computer programmer can make good salary after a bachelors and few years of experience (depending how aggressively they change jobs to get higher pay).

In my opinion, if you have no issue putting in the amount of years doctor needs, and you have no issue with cutting cadavers, paying tuition (or taking a loan), than doctor is the best path.
If you want reasonable wage fast, go for computer programmer.

[muto]

Plastic Surgeons probably make the most.

[chadwix]

Id go engineer with upcoming obamacare. Id ask some people in the medical field to see how this impacts them, collecting money from the gov is like pulling teeth.

[a21fa7c67f26f6d49a20c2c51]

Here's a report for the American market
and here's some information for physicians in the USA

TLDR: Engineering "wins" for most undergraduate majors. All of the math-heavy majors like computer science, engineering, maths, and physics are reasonably close. For people with 8+ years of school medicine is a very good choice. a physician will probably earn 10-25% more than a graduate engineer, computer scientist, physicist, or mathematician.

These are pretty bulky categories though. Some branches of engineering are worth less than others (petroleum engineering is worth almost twice as much bio-medical engineering). So you can just just say "I'm majoring in engineering so I'll be rich" you need to focus on the right sub-specialization.

Typically medical school is done after an undergraduate program so it's more fair to compare it to graduate degrees in the other majors. For maths-heavy degree programs you can expect a 35% 'boost' in earnings (give or take). To compare that to a field like "doctor" is difficult. A salaried GP makes can be expected to make less than a engineer or programmer with a Phd. On the other hand a specialized surgeon can pull down substantially more than phd petroleum engineers

When you're talking about people who have each spent roughly 8-10 years in school then salaries are fairly similar. Doctors are likely to "win" because many people who go through to a Phd in the sciences/maths end up in academics doing research and teaching where the salaries are simply not as good. Then there's the issue of private industry not needing PHds for much. Some majors get a substantial boost from graduate programs (ie: social sciences are > 100%) but other's don't: computer scientists mights see an extra 35% and the highly paid petroleum engineer sees less than 10%. Ultimately 4 more years of school doesn't make you a substantially better programmer or pipeline designer but it might make you a substantially better zoologist. Engineers etc. that do continue in private industry (ie: running departments designing chips at Intel) are likely to be paid as well as doctors but those jobs are rather rare.

When you start talking about jobs where there are only a few thousand people in the world doing them - it's difficult to make meaningful calculations. There may only be a dozen 'highly ranked' brain surgeons making $500k/year -- likewise there are probably only a few dozen ultra-math nerds writing trading software for hedge funds pulling down 7-figures. There's little point in saying things like 'engineers can patent things' because you can point at people like Page, Brin, Wozniak. Newel, Carmack, Persson, and Cook. You need to focus on averages rather than edge cases.

[Rukentuts]

There is no set major that "makes the most" by default. Salary is dependent on way too many factors.

[Catta]

Lets not forget that biologists or chemists can also patent things for medical needs, which too can have huge payouts. Not sure how common this is though.

Also lets not forget lawyers, who also make good wage.

I think doctors make the most, but you need about 12? years of studying. You got bachelors of 4 years, than about 4? years specialty than few years of residency? am I getting it wrong? I think it's about 12.
In comparison computer programmer can make good salary after a bachelors and few years of experience (depending how aggressively they change jobs to get higher pay).

In my opinion, if you have no issue putting in the amount of years doctor needs, and you have no issue with cutting cadavers, paying tuition (or taking a loan), than doctor is the best path.
If you want reasonable wage fast, go for computer programmer.

I wanna be a surgeon... Good thing im in Med school, huh!

[Deleted]

Petroleum Engineering hands down if you're looking for straight up $$$.

[Laize]

I think I have whittled it down to engineering majors VS med school majors (doctors surgeons and such). But I don't really know who makes more?

Engineers make about $60k-$70k. You won't get godly rich being an engineer.

Any doctor can expect a 6 figure salary, especially a surgeon.

The highest paying college degree is an MBA though.

Any MBA virtually guarantees you a 6 figure job and room for advancement to 7 or even 8 figures if you're good at it.

[Pendulous]

If I had to guess, I would say that 9 times of out 10 a specialized surgeon makes more than an engineer of any kind.

Not as an intern. You gotta stay with it for awhile before you make real money. Not to mention paying back tons of money for med school.

My friend got an engineering job right out of college and was already making good money. I'd say engineering is better in the short run.

[Beavis]

Petroleum engineer!

[Jackmoves]

Highest average? Finance, but highest entry I would say dentists/doctors/Engineerers. People in Law and finance usually need to do a few "dog" years before starting to get proper wage hikes. Thats for Sweden btw.

Top 10 occupations as far as earnings goes 2012 according to Statitsics Sweden(government agency for statistics)

1. Ekonom(Economist)
2. Flygledare(Air traffic controllers)
3. Trafikflygare(Traffic Aviators)
4. Läkare(physicians/doctors)
5. Advokat/Jurist/Åklagare(Lawyer/Attorney)
6. Domare(Judges)
7. Produktionsledare, film(film production)
8. Farmakolog/Lagerchef/Toxikolog(Pharmacologist/Warehouse Manager/Toxicologist)
9. Nutritionist(Nutritionists)
10. Konsumentvägledare(Consumer advicors)